---
title: "VMware integration\n    | Ubuntu"
description: Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the
  desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.
url: https://ubuntu.com/ceph/docs/vmware?format=md
keywords: index, follow
---

*Submit*

# VMware integration

VMware integration with Charmed Ceph refers to VMware-based clients (iSCSI initiators) accessing block devices based on Ceph RBD images (iSCSI targets).

iSCSI is a network protocol that provides block-level access to storage devices by carrying SCSI commands over a TCP/IP network. It allows a network host to access central storage resources as if the storage was a locally connected device.

This support is enabled in Charmed Ceph via the ceph-iscsi charm. See the [charm README](https://opendev.org/openstack/charm-ceph-iscsi/src/branch/master/README.md) for essential information.

### [Ceph iSCSI](https://ubuntu.com/ceph/docs/vmware?format=md#ceph-iscsi)

Begin by accessing the VMware admin web UI.

Note:

These instructions were written using VMware ESXi 6.7.0.

Accessing the WMware web UI.

#### Create a Ceph pool

If desired, create a Ceph pool to back the VMware targets with the ceph-mon charm’s `create-pool` action. To create one called ‘vmware-iscsi’:

```
juju run ceph-mon/0 create-pool name=vmware-iscsi
```

#### Enable the initiator

From the web UI select the `Adapters` tab in the `Storage` context. Click `Configure iSCSI` and enable iSCSI.

Take a note of the initiator’s name, also called its IQN (iSCSI Qualified Name). Here the IQN we’ll use is `iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:node-gadomski-6a5e962a` .

Determining the IQN for the initiator.

#### Create an iSCSI target

With the `create-target` action create a target for VMware to use. Use the pool that may have been created previously (such as ‘vmware-iscsi’):

```
juju run ceph-iscsi/0 create-target \
   client-initiatorname=iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:node-gadomski-6a5e962a \
   client-username=vmwareclient \
   client-password=12to16characters \
   image-size=5G \
   image-name=disk-1 \
   pool-name=vmware-iscsi
```

Note:

VMware imposes a policy on credentials. The username should be more than eight characters and the password between twelve and sixteen characters.

#### Add a target to VMware

Follow the [Ceph iSCSI gateway for VMware](https://docs.ceph.com/docs/master/rbd/iscsi-initiator-esx/) documentation to use the new target. Use the (CHAP) username and password passed to the `create-target` action.

Note:

At the time of writing, the redundant task of setting the credentials via the ESX CLI is still a necessity. This will require you to enable SSH under `Manage` > `Services` > `TSM-SSH` > `Actions` (Start).

When finished, under the `Devices` tab you should see the created target. To make more devices available to VMware simply create more targets (use a different image name and optionally a different image size). You may need to `Rescan` and `Refresh` for the new devices to appear.

Clicking on one of the target devices will show its details:

Inspecting target device details.

#### View targets in Ceph Dashboard

If you’re using the [Ceph Dashboard](https://ubuntu.com/ceph/docs/install-dashboard), you’ll need to add a relation to view the added iSCSI targets:

```
juju integrate ceph-iscsi:admin-access ceph-dashboard:iscsi-dashboard
```

---

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This page was last modified 2 years ago. [Help improve this document in the forum](https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/vmware-integration/18791).